Chapter 8: The humorous but very serious WAF (Wife Approval Factor)

To get a feel for what the public opinion is regarding this equipment, an easy and often very interesting option is to investigate what members of forums and groups around these interests are saying. For that, Facebook offers a good option.

Many high-end audio enthusiasts know this quite well, when they are dealing with their wives, about the question of buying new audio gear. They talk about the WAF, or “wife approval factor” in their recent discussions in audio enthusiasts groups. Will their wife approve of new audio equipment in their living room? Very often, their wives are not likely to approve of new equipment, and it seems quite often, that the way this equipment look is the factor that is the reason for their disapproval.

Here are glimpses of some discussions and comments in these groups from the year 2020. These are included here with referenece to fair use rules, they are not meant to drag particular individuals into this, but rather to give an overview of the lingo.

„Guaranteed divorce“

I saw once where some enthusiast was posting an image of some especially large and mean looking loudspeakers, asking about opinions, and one of the comments was “Guaranteed divorce”, meaning that their wife would divorce them if they tried to bring this monster into the home!

Another one posted an image of a very large loudspeaker, and a comment read „No wife, I guess“.

„Audio gear and music don‘t make ladies look sexy nor beautiful“

A third discussion asked „Why is almost all audiophiles male?“

Among the answers you, very interestingly see that one comments „That makes absolutely no sense at all“, which I heartily agree with. And then the jokes come.

„You are definitely single“,

„…most audio stuff doesn‘t come in pink or glittery“,

„We have money, females spent it on handbags and shoes“,

„because audio gear and music don‘t make ladies look sexy nor beautiful.“ (Or their homes look beautiful, one could add?)

„Because it‘s not pink.“

„Because clothing stores don‘t sell high end stereo equipment!“

 „Behind every great audio system is a wife approving the husband of the components he wants to buy.“

Another says „Behind every good man with a decent Hi-Fi is a woman rolling her eyes.“

„It‘s no surprise why there are very few women in this group“, another comment reads.

And then one comments: „I sense a business opportunity.“ Another one interestingly says: „And speakers… speakers! The boring‚ looks like the inside of a tree or charcoal‘ veneer can be replaced by all kinds of fashionable patterns and colors… And speakers can be released multiple times a year.“  „And tube amps. Tubes should have colour.“ This is like spoken from my heart.

„It‘s definitely not wife approved“

One group member posted an image of a new subwoofer upgrade, with the words „Subwoofer upgrade this past weekend! (model name). It‘s definitely not wife approved for its size!“

A comment answering read: „That‘s amazing! That subwoofer is DEFINITELY not wife approved!“

„Wife will kill me 100%“

A group member posted an image of his new TV home cinema setup, with two standmount loudspeakers, and four tower speakers. The text read „Wife will kill me 100%“

The comments came in, among those being:

„I know a good divorce lawyer…“

„If you‘er going to die, you might as well crank up the music and go in peace!“

„There are things worth dying for.“

„One of many reasons I chose to divorce my X, Drama Queen wife. It‘s so much better single…“

„This setup has indeed a low WOK factor … (woman OK factor).“

„I must find a smaller set of speakers“

One group member posted an image of his large, open baffle speakers. And then said „Wife hates them so much I must find a smaller set of speakers.“

A reply read: „These are incredible. Selling?“

And the poster answered: „Unfortunately I may have to be. Wife really wants her space back“

„The wife would only accept these small sweet speakers in HER living room“

One group member posted about the popular format of home cinema speakers, where there are four very, very small mid-high range speakers, and one larger subwoofer. I skip the brand name because it doesn‘t matter, since many brands offer speakers of this kind.

„Speakers not bigger than milk cartons and a bass module one could hide from sight. (Brand) had an instant hit because this was a wife trap. Whenever some guy took his wife to the electronics shop to buy speakers. The wife would only accept these small sweet speakers in HER living room.“

He then talked about what he thought of the audio quality. „Well as like so many I listened to them back in the day, and hated them right away for everything they didn‘t do. They didn‘t play nice mids, they didn‘t play crispy highs and the bass was muddy to say the least.“

It is interesting to ponder about the nature and strength of the forces that made him buy this, instead of what he thought was a good home cinema speakers set. The answer is, of course, that it was the discontent of his wife about the looks, and how much she liked the looks of these inferior speakers, that was the reason.

The replies in the comments read:

[The loudspeakers discussed are] „Perfect for men who are subordinate to her every whim.“

„Lucky I don‘t have that kind of wife.“

„That‘s hilarious and true most married men have something like this in their living room. My brother-in-law does and I laugh!!!!“

These sarcastic and often brute jokes, that are floating around in the general discussion, do point to a deeper reality that this industry might look very closely into: That the way home audio equipment look can be a detrimental factor in winning approval for purchase among husband and wife households.

An interesting thing to consider is this: Loudspeakers take up far less space than sofas, chairs, tables and cupboards. So why are wives and girlfriends ready to accept those things into their homes, and not ready to accept decent loudspeakers that are not „the size of a milk carton“?

Well it‘s not because the micro-sized speakers sound better. It is because they don‘t like the way the speakers look. The power of that dislike is enough to block the purchase of larger, better quality (and more expensive) loudspeakers.

The question is: How many more decent components would be bought if more wives  and girlfriends approved of them?